BHUBANESWAR: Mounting a scathing attack on the state government, leader of the Opposition and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Thursday held it responsible for the death of two tribal women after consuming mango kernel at Mandipanka village in Kandhamal district recently.
“Our Tapasya to eradicate hunger has gone in vain. The incompetence of the present BJP government has destroyed the more than a decade-long dedicated efforts to ensure every home in the state has enough food to sustain themselves,” he said.
The former chief minister said the poor tribal people are now forced to consume mango kernel due to lack of adequate food in their homes as the state government has stopped providing them rice.
“The state government has stopped the provision of rice for poor tribals. Therefore, they were forced to eat mango kernel gruel. Two people have died and others are undergoing treatment. This is very sad,” Naveen said while addressing members of party’s students wing at Sankha Bhawan here.
Naveen said his government had launched several schemes for the poor people of the state and given them confidence to live with self-confidence. “When our government was in power, people were getting adequate food grains. We had introduced a food security scheme for those who were not covered under the NFSA. The current government has ruined all those efforts and as a result, people are being forced to eat mango kernel gruel because they are not getting rice,” he said.
He demaded the present government to continue with the scheme as food security of people cannot be compromised.